Not At All
by A. Windsor
Summary: Ten years after “You’re Welcome”, Angel’s new unlife with Buffy in Scotland is quite unexpectedly interrupted. AC. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Not At All

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Angel, Cordelia, the Scoobies

Pairings: Angel/Cordelia with residual Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Xander/Dawn, and mentions of Buffy/Spike

Summary: Ten years to date after "You're Welcome", Angel's new unlife with Buffy in Scotland is quite unexpectedly interrupted.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans Bella and Henry McAllister) aren't mine, but the situation is.

Author's Note: I guess this is technically a cross-over fic with BtVS and AU if you include the events of the comics in canon, but nothing contradicts what was seen in the televised seasons of both series. My first Angel fic. I really should've been working on Firefly fic instead of writing this, but here's what came out. It is A/C, but absolutely no Buffy-bashing here.

**Part 1**

**Chapter 1(of 5)**

It is all happening too fast. One moment fighting off your average vampire thugs, the next huddled in a boxcar barreling through the moors of northern England, bound for a medieval castle in Scotland. A castle she has sworn she would never enter. A castle she tries so hard to forget exists.

But it's her last resort, her last refuge. Bella lays unconscious in her lap, pulse thready, breathing sporadic. Her hands are sticky with the child's blood, which has finally slowed in flowing from the twin puncture wounds in her neck, the gash on her forehead, the stab wound in her abdomen. The girl's right arm falls at an unnatural angle. Henry crouches just inside the open door of the train car, stung by the downpour and staring, unseeing, at the damp, dark land racing by. Those eyes that, in spite of everything he's seen, are usually so young and bright are now dull and broken.

And suddenly she is so very tired. So tired of running and hiding with two children who have never met a stranger and yet never had a friend. Living from motel to motel, hostel to hostel, all across the globe. New York, Prague, Rome, Istanbul, Shanghai, Kyoto, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo… They all blur together. This isn't how she had planned to see the world. You know, back when she had been alive.

Anyway, don't you think the Powers that Be could splurge a little when it came to accommodations? Especially considering how much they wanted these two miracle children alive…

* * *

"Another spotting of agents from Wolfram & Hart, the Xui Syndicate, the Afolabi crime organization, 'Abd al-Hamid's men, and La Familia Rojas. This time in London," Giles announces to the gathered "inner circle", an expanded version of what had once been the Scoobies. That name died off so long ago.

Angel hates moments like these, when Giles sounds so much like Wesley that the past ten years melt away. He rubs the headache away from the bridge of his nose, hoping that his memories of the former Watcher will leave with it.

"They're getting closer," Buffy speaks up from beside Angel.

"Occult mafias from almost every continent," Xander observes from the other side of the room, adjusting his eye patch and studying the projected map, which plots the reported sightings across the globe. Removing his hand from Dawn's knee, he pauses before adding, "They're tracking something."

_Dammit, when did Xander Harris get so damn observant? And when did I lose the urge to growl at him and Dawn? _Angel thinks, returning his attention to the map.

"They're getting more frequent. Whatever they're tracking is on the move," Angel says, surprised at how rough his voice has become.

"We've been getting these reports for a decade now," Kennedy offers, "But never all five in the same place, all in a row."

"Until three months ago," Willow pipes up from beside her.

"So they're getting closer to their goal," Andrew says, standing and moving to the map. "They all met up in St. Petersburg in February. That's our first reported sighting of all five groups. Their quarry must be pretty desperate to go to Russia in the winter. Like Napoleon and Hitler."

Giles has the grace roll his eyes at Andrew's last comment. No matter how much Andrew changes, his moments of nerd-dom still abound.

"So the question remains, what exactly are they hunting?" Giles asks, surveying the room. They are no longer the children he met on the Hellmouth. Even young Dawn is growing close to thirty. Their eyes are all haunted, their moments of joy few and far between. So much responsibility on all of these shoulders.

Xander gives a yelp before sheepishly realizing it's his cell phone vibrating against his thigh. He answers it shortly, his eyes widening as he listens.

"What do the psychics say?" he demands. "A Higher Being?! Give us a visual."

The screen changes to one of the cameras on the outside walls of the castle, the one angled at the front door.

"Maybe that's what they're hunting," Dawn suggests as the camera zooms in and focuses. Three figures come into view, a small boy and a woman carrying a severely injured little girl in her arms. All three figures are haggard, but as the zoom closes in on the face of the woman, a collective gasp echoes through the room.

"Oh my God," Buffy manages.

Angel bursts out of the room, Buffy quick at his heels. "Angel, wait…"

"What?" Kennedy asks, staring at the woman on the screen. She turns to Willow. "Who is that?"

The witch's eyes are haunted as she answers.

"Cordelia."

* * *

Angel tears through the hallways of the castle, ignoring curious Slayers, witches, and Watchers, bowling them over. His mind is singularly focused on meeting whatever is out there and strangling it slowly and brutally for daring to wear _his _Cordelia's face. That's already happened once, and his heart can't break into any more pieces, even if it doesn't beat.

"Angel, wait…" Buffy repeats, close at his heels. "We don't know who or what is out there. If they're on our side or not…"

Angel turns on her, eyes yellow in rage. "I don't give a damn who's _side_ it's on, Buffy. Nothing has a right to that face…"

Buffy's eyes are sympathetic, her words soft as she tries to calm him. "I know, Angel, I know. I'm just asking you to think a little before…"

"What if it were Spike's face?" Angel bites out.

Buffy's face clouds, and she takes a step back.

Angel turns again, headed for the door. Buffy takes a few moments to recover before following Angel.

The ensouled vampire pushes past the Slayers on guard at the door and swings it open. Looking into those eyes is like being slammed with a sledgehammer. He freezes, the anger draining from him. It's her. He can feel it. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. He will never forget those eyes.

"Angel…" she whimpers, soaked and exhausted and worried sick. Her knees are shaking, ready to collapse from the emotion. "Help… please…"

When he goes to catch her, he instead finds the small body in her arms pushed into his, her eyes pleading.

"You're dead," he manages, dorkily.

"Yeah," Cordelia admits with a weak smile, leaning on the boy at her side to steady herself. "Something like that."

Angel can smell the stench of blood on the girl in his arms and takes in her broken body.

"Can we come in?"

"Of course," Buffy says, emerging from behind Angel. She puts her arm around Cordelia, allowing the other woman to put all of her weight on her. The rest of the "inner circle" is behind her, Kennedy coming forward to scoop the weak boy up before he collapses. He stiffens in her arms.

"Henry, it's okay. You're safe," Cordelia says softly.

The boy melts, and Kennedy can feel the hot tears on her neck as everything catches up with him.

"To the infirmary, then," Giles takes control of the situation. "Xander, alert the healers we're coming."

Shaken from his Cordy-induced reverie, Xander is on his phone again, his voice near hysterical.

Once they're in the room that serves as first-aid central in the castle, Angel gingerly lays the unconscious girl out on one of the beds, the healers hurriedly surrounding her.

"How did this happen?" Giles asks as the healers begin their work. His question is directed at Cordelia, who is staring at the girl as the healers start to set her arm. "Put her in a chair," he orders Buffy gently, noticing the tremor running through Cordelia.

"Cordy," Buffy tries gently, once she's settled the other woman in the chair. "What's going on?"

"She needs blood," one of the healers, a petite woman with warm brown eyes, interrupts. "Slayer blood."

Everyone snaps their attention to the healer.

"What's that, Becky?" Xander says. "Did you say, 'Slayer blood'?"

"Yes," Becky nods. "She's a Slayer. And she needs blood. At this point, mere human blood will not be enough to save her."

Kennedy, without hesitation, hands Henry off to Xander and rolls up her sleeve. "Mine. Take mine."

Becky studies her for a moment before nodding. "Your types will match, yes."

Kennedy nods, pulling a chair over next to Bella and offering her arm.

Giles takes a deep breath. "How about we hold all questions until after everyone's medical needs are taken care of? Becky, I'd like some of your people to look over both Cordelia and the boy. Henry, is it?"

"Yes," Cordelia answers, breathily. "Henry. And Bella."

"Alright then," Giles says warmly. "While they're being looked to, the rest of us should leave them in peace."

Code for he wants to see them all in the situation room.

"Except for you, of course, Kennedy," Giles adds, nodding to the younger Slayer of the "inner circle".

Kennedy nods back, head turned away from the needle being shoved in her arm.

The rest of the group begins to file out, Willow first squeezing Kennedy's shoulder warmly and muttering a soft blessing over the severely injured child. Xander gently drops the boy onto a nearby bed as healers begin to fuss over him. His eye meets Cordelia's briefly before he too leaves, Dawn in tow. Angel lingers in the door, staring at Cordelia, until Buffy tugs gently on his hand. He follows numbly. Once they've all left, Cordelia speaks up.

"Thank you," she says, finding her strong voice once again. It's directed at Kennedy, and the younger woman immediately turns her attention to the new arrival. "Thank you so much. You don't even know us and…"

"Don't even worry about it," Kennedy cuts her off, uncomfortable at her praise. "You obviously mean something to them. And… I feel… something, when I see these kids. A connection."

Cordelia smiles knowingly, thinking of the thousands of realities she knows exist. "Just, thank you. I'm Cordelia, by the way. I went to high school with the Scoobies. At least, my mortal self did." When a healer moves to examine her, she waves him off. "I'm immortal. I'll live."

"Kennedy," the Slayer introduces herself. "I helped them close the Hellmouth."

"And fell in love with Willow," Cordelia observes. Off Kennedy's questioning glance, she explains, "I'm a Higher Being. I know these things."

"You worked with Angel. In L.A."

Cordy tries valiantly to keep the heartbreak from her face, but even Higher Beings aren't omnipotent. Instead, she stands, legs less shaky, and moves to Henry's bed. The healers have given him a sleeping potion to help him regain his strength and have started an IV to re-hydrate him. He is otherwise blessedly unharmed. Unlike his Slayer twin sister, he wouldn't've survived the trip from London if he'd been injured. She sits beside him, intertwining their fingers as she looks across to Bella and Kennedy.

Becky is rubbing herbs into Bella's wounds and whispering spells, trance-like as she works to keep the girl's heart beating, ignoring the outside bustle. The bones in the broken arm are already knitting back together, the child's Slayer healing aided by Becky's powers.

* * *

"That… that… can't be her," Xander insists. "Angel, you said she was dead."

Angel flinches, watching Xander pace back and forth, Dawn trying to calm him down.

"She is! She was… I… She was dead."

His last day with her replays in his head, that day where for the first and only time since he sank into the Pacific Ocean, everything was as close to perfect as it got. Fighting the bad guys, Cordy at his side. Cordy, and Fred, and Wesley, and Gunn. All dead now. Lorne nowhere to be found. Connor a grown man, baby on the way, rarely in contact with his father after that fateful final battle. That thing that took Fred's body wandering in and out of Angel's unlife, torturing him, reminding him of those brief years where he'd had a family and a life.

"And her body still is," Willow speaks up.

"So, what? A zombie?" Dawn questions. "She's looks pretty good for a zombie."

"A Higher Being," Willow explains. Angel closes his eyes against the painful memories. "Her mortal life ended the day Angel remembers. But the Powers that Be rewarded her."

"So she's dead…" Xander says, still trying to grasp the situation.

"No," Willow says, firmly. "She's immortal."

"And given a new mission," Buffy realizes in the corner, squeezing Angel's hand. "Becky said the kid's a Slayer. If so, she couldn't've been more than a baby when Willow activated all the Slayers. She would need protecting, training."

"So why wouldn't the Powers send the girl here?" Giles questions.

"There must be something special about them," Andrew says. "Extra powers or a prophecy or something."

Angel shudders. He hates prophecies.

"I hate to ask this, but how do we know it's actually Cordy? From what Angel's told us…"

"It's Cordy," Angel growls.

"But…" Xander continues.

"I know," Angel repeats, "It's Cordy."

"If Angel says it's Cordy, it's Cordy," Buffy defends, ending the argument. "Will already explained all of that."

"The kids must be what all those evil groups are after," Dawn says.

"The two incidents are not necessarily related," Giles starts.

"I don't know, Giles," Willow interrupts thoughtfully. "They seem pretty co-incidental to me."

"We won't know anything for certain until we've questioned her directly. Until then, I suggest everyone who can, rest up. Andrew, if you would double the watch shift until we're sure of just what's going on. And Xander, please ask the psychics to be on extra-high alert."

Both men nod, and the room clears of everyone except Buffy and Angel, seated in the corner.

"You're sure it's her?" she clarifies.

Angel sighs. "You would know if it were him, wouldn't you?"

Buffy closes her eyes, seeing Spike's face. Breathlessly, she answers, "Yes."

He squeezes her hand. "This means she's been out there. All this time."

Buffy knows this changes everything. They built their renewed relationship on the fact that both Spike and Cordelia were gone. Being comfortable, mutual second choices coupled with their old love made the world a little less lonely, a little less scary. But now Angel's first choice is back in the picture, and the lump forming in Buffy's stomach is not jealousy but longing. Disappointment that Cordy is back while Spike is still ashes.

She lays his head against his shoulder, and they sit in silence.

* * *

TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Not At All

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Angel, Cordelia, the Scoobies

Pairings: Angel/Cordelia with residual Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Xander/Dawn, and mentions of Buffy/Spike

Summary: Ten years after "You're Welcome", Angel's new unlife with Buffy in Scotland is quite unexpectedly interrupted.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans Bella and Henry McAllister) aren't mine, but the situation is.

Author's Note: Hopefully I've fulfilled my promise of no Buffy-bashing. Someone call me on it if I start. Thanks for all your really encouraging reviews. It's nerve-wracking to start a new fandom. Also, if any of you are Firefly fans, you should check out my other stuff.

* * *

**Chapter 2 (of 5)**

"I've done the best I can," Becky explains to Cordelia. "Her wounds are healed, and Kennedy's blood should help things along. Now her body is just recuperating. If her body wakes up, there will be no ill effects."

"If?" Cordelia questions, lump forming in her throat. She knows all about comas, and she will slit Bella's throat herself rather than let her live that way.

"When," Becky says, trying to be comforting. "There's no reason she shouldn't wake up. The healing going on now is mental. With you and her…"

"Brother," Cordy offers, eyes ghosting over to the sleeping boy. "Twin brother."

Becky smiles kindly. "With you and her brother around, her mind should heal itself quickly."

"Thank you," Cordy says, taking Bella's small hand in both of hers. It's warm. She looks over at Kennedy. "And thank you, so much."

Kennedy nods, grimacing slightly as one of the healers removes the needle and bandages her arm. She stretches it out and stands.

"Twins, you said? I've seen a lot of Slayers in the past ten years, but never a Slayer with a twin."

"It's complicated," Cordelia offers softly. "Hey, Kennedy, you wouldn't happen to know the date, would you?" As much time zone jumping as she does, it is hard to keep track of such things.

"June 2nd," Kennedy says, rolling down her sleeve and then gently brushing some blonde hair out of Bella's face.

Cordelia closes her eyes. Those Powers certainly do have a sense of humor. Her mind flashes with what happens on this date in another reality, twin pairs of blue eyes staring into a hospital bassinet in wonder.

"What's wrong?" Kennedy questions.

"Irony," Cordelia sighs, flashing one of those mega-watt smiles, though it doesn't reach her eyes.

Henry begins to whimper, then cries out loudly in his sleep. Cordelia drops Bella's hand and rushes to him, Kennedy close behind her. He awakens with a burst of tears, sitting up quickly.

Cordelia grabs for him, pulling him in close, resting his head on her chest as he sobs.

"Shh… Shh…" she soothes. "What did you see, baby? What did you see?"

"They're coming," he gasps, red-gold head buried into her. "They're coming for us, Cordy. They won't stop."

"Hush, now, baby," Cordy whispers, rubbing his back. "I got you. I got you."

"They won't stop 'til we're dead."

"Or they are," Cordy mumbles into his hair, smoothing it back as she rocks him.

"Cordy?" the little boy questions.

"Yeah, baby?"

"Is Bella…?"

"Right here, baby," she assures him, setting him on the ground and directing him towards his sister.

As the boy snuggles up alongside his sister, Cordy closes her eyes against the onslaught of images from that other world, that other day.

"Nightmare?" Kennedy questions from beside her as Henry settles in.

Cordelia shakes her head. "Worse. Prophetic dream."

Kennedy's brow wrinkles. "Like a Slayer?"

"Yes, but different. He gets them instead of Bella. And with more frequency. It's more direct. Bella calls him a 'dream-walker'."

"Cordelia, he said you were being followed," Kennedy says slowly. "Were you just in London?"

Cordy nods.

"And Brussels before that? Amsterdam? Berlin? Warsaw? Minsk?"

Cordy continues to nod.

"Were you in St. Petersburg three months ago?"

"Yeah, and it was frickin' cold."

Kennedy lets a small grin escape. "They're tracking you."

"Negative. They're tracking them," Cordy says, gesturing to the twins curled together on the bed. "I'm just the guardian."

* * *

Both Angel and Buffy are pretending to sleep, curled together on their bed, but neither is actually dreaming and both know it. They're both thinking of the Others. Angel finally pulls away, slipping a shirt on and leaving the room. Barefoot, he makes his way to the infirmary and pushes the door open silently, peeking in at its occupants in that stalkerish way of his Cordy used to tease him about. 

The girl sleeps, her breathing and heartbeat finally regular, bandages covering the rapidly healing wounds. The boy, her brother judging by his smell, is tucked in beside her, hand searching for her free one in sleep. Cordy keeps silent vigil at their side from a chair, legs pulled up under her as she watches them. She looks exactly the same as the day she pressed her lips to his and vanished from his life. A price of immortality with which Angel is all too familiar.

"I know you're there," she says softly. "I've been able to sense you since long before I was a Higher Being."

She doesn't turn her eyes to him, doesn't acknowledge him in any way besides her voice, but his unbeating heart constricts at the sound of it.

"I thought you were dead. I laid your body in the ground…" He's surprised at the way his throat constricts, his eyes prick, even ten years later.

"I am dead, Angel," she says, back still turned to him. "Any life I've ever had outside of these two is over, done. The Powers were kind enough to give me a goodbye, to get my guy back on track."

She nearly dusts him with a possessive pronoun.

"Cordelia," he says, and his pain, his love drips off every syllable.

"What do you want me to say, Angel?"

"I want you to explain to me how you can claim to love me and spend every day of the last ten years walking this earth without even telling me."

"Would that've made it easier, Angel?" Cordy asks, finally turning to face him, anger lacing her voice in a way that is oh-so-familiar to him. "'Hey, Angel, I'm dying, but I'm still gonna be up walkin' around, never to see you again.' Hello, Mr. McBroodsalot, you would have never let that happen. And when I left anyway, you would have never recovered."

"And I've recovered now?" Angel questions.

"Yes," Cordy says firmly. "You're with Buffy. You've kept fighting, kept living."

"Not through lack of trying," Angel mutters under his breath, entering the room and leaning against the now-closed door.

"Angel," she says, voice softening. "There are very few things in this world that would've made me give up my fight to stay at your side. But Bella and Henry… they make that list."

"You knew," he says. "You knew as we said goodbye that you were going to them."

"They were being born in that very moment," she admits easily.

He still looks hurt, almost pouty. It pulls at her heart.

"If you knew what I knew about them, Angel, you would understand."

He meets her eyes at that, those beautiful hazel-brown eyes. "Enlighten me."

She sighs, standing, coming to his side. She grabs his hand, and it takes all of his willpower not to pull her into his arms right then and there, after ten years of not feeling her skin, hearing her heartbeat… She pulls him over to one of the empty beds, makes him sit. She sits beside him, hand still closed around his.

"There are other worlds, other realities. I'm not talking dimensions; I'm talking totally separate realities. In lots of them, you and me, the Scoobies, we all play important, but different, roles in their lives. In some, we never meet them. In some, they're never born. But there's one, one in particular…" She closes her eyes.

"What, Cordy?"

"It's the most beautiful place you've ever seen. It's not so much different from here. In fact, it shares the same history until about 2001. But there's no Connor, no Holtz, no Quar-toth. No ascension, no Jasmine, no coma… None of that. And on February 4th, 2004, Bella and Henry are born. That's the same in every reality. Six weeks later, their mother brings them to the Hyperion to be protected. They never leave. At least, not until they're much older."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, that in that reality… We raise them."

"We… the team? Or we… us?"

She points to herself. "Mommy." She points to him. "Daddy."

The emotion hits him like Mack truck. To watch children grow, hear them call him 'Daddy', it's something he was robbed of with Connor. He was robbed of everything with Connor.

"It's so beautiful, Angel," she whispers. He can sense she's holding something back.

"There's more," he prods.

She takes a deep, shaky breath. "August 20th, 2006 – your heart starts beating again. April 12, 2008 – we're married in a daylight service. June 2nd, 2014…" she pauses, steadying her breath. Her heartbeat (so odd that she has one even though she's dead) speeds up. She repeats herself. "June 2nd, 2014 – Declan Doyle Chase is born."

The final revelation has him on his feet, dropping her hand.

"That… That's today."

Cordy nods.

"Our… our son? Half me, half you."

She nods again, fighting the onslaught of memories that are not her own, a life that is not hers. He looks over his shoulder at the sleeping twins.

"Why are you here? Why are you here, today?"

Cordy smiles tightly and repeats her answer to Kennedy. "Irony?"

His stern look tells her that that won't cut it.

"It wasn't planned, Angel. In fact, I tried my damnedest for this_not_ to happen."

"So why?"

"Because I have to protect them."

"From what?"

"Everything that's chasing them."

"Which is?"

"Pretty much anything remotely evil," she says, trying to sound flippant.

"Wolfram & Hart, 'Abd al-Hamid, Xui, Rojas, Afolabi. They're all tracking you."

"Those are the big guns, yeah."

"And the little ones?"

"Every small time demon crime lord trying to break into the majors."

"Why?"

"'Cause we're all so damn cute," she says, sarcasm tracing her words.

He narrows a frown at her.

"Prophecy."

Angel curses.

"A Slayer in halves. Pretty much a death knell for anything that goes bump in the night, no matter how big and bad it thinks it is. Or anything trying to stop some big bad, if they fall into the wrong hands. Slayers aren't necessarily incorruptible."

"How have you survived this long?"

"Well, half of the underworld wants them dead, the other half wants them alive. So they tend to fight themselves while trying to find us, which helps. Plus my amazing charm and good looks," she smirks.

With that tease, that smile, the old Cordy is there, however briefly, and Angel's dead heart throbs with the ache of it.

"We've never stayed in one place longer than a week. In their entire lives. Well, unless you count the handful of twenty day voyages at sea." She pauses, turning serious. "It's getting harder, though. You saw us today, Angel, saw her. Some low-level Wolfram & Hart vamps nearly took my baby girl from me. You were my final sanctuary."

"You'll be safe here," he promises, though he knows his words are false.

"No, we won't," she calls him on it. "I doubt even a castle full of Slayers can hold indefinitely against the combined and concentrated forces of the entire underworld. And I won't put that many lives at risk, not when those Slayers can be doing something else, something for the whole world. We stay as long as it takes until Bella recovers, then we disappear again."

He feels the sudden urge to swear that he'll go with her, that he'll follow her everywhere and anywhere, but it gets caught in his throat. Instead, they remain in silence, staring at each other.

"You should get a shower." _Great work, Angel, you see the woman you love for the first time in a decade and you're already telling her she smells._

But Cordy doesn't seem insulted, just drifts her eyes over to the twins.

"I'll watch them," he insists. "They'll be safe for five minutes."

Cordy raises her eyebrow.

"Alright, more like twenty from what I remember, but I'll watch them."

"If they wake up and I'm not here…"

"I'll knock them unconscious before they can even realize."

Cordelia's hands go to her hips. "That is not even funny."

"Go, shower."

She nods, acquiescing.

"You can use what used to be Dawn's room."

She makes a face. "So, Dawn and Xander? Really?"

* * *

Henry wakes soon after Cordelia leaves. He blinks a few times in the low light before pushing himself up and away from his sister. He sits up, swinging his legs off the bed, and then notices Angel. 

"Hi," he says, yawning and rubbing sleep out of his blue eyes. His red-gold hair needs a cut and is sticking up at all angles.

"Hi," Angel says from the chair next to the bed, not a foot away from the boy. Henry seems unfazed by the proximity of a stranger. "I'm Angel."

"I know," Henry shrugs. "You're a vampire."

"And you're not afraid of me?"

"Nope. You've got a soul. If I were scared, I'd've already had this out," the boy explains, fishing a small stake from his grimy jean pocket. He twirls it idly, which disturbs Angel a little.

"Oh, so Cordelia told you about me," he says warily, keeping his eyes on the stake.

"Nope. I dreamed you."

"Dreamed me?" Angel questions, confused.

"Yeah. I dream stuff. Didn't my mom tell you about me?"

"Your… mom?"

"Yeah, Cordy. She doesn't like us to call her 'mom', 'cause she says we had a mom and it's not fair to her. But, she is. Our mom, I mean."

"You don't remember your birth mother?"

"Well, sure. Little bits," Henry admits. "We were real little when she died. Cordy says she was protecting us."

Sacrificing herself to let her children live. Angel knows a little about that.

Henry's kicking bare feet brush against Angel's hands and he freezes.

"Hey, you're cold."

Angel gives him a funny look.

"Well, duh," Henry says, shaking his head with a little grin. "You're a vampire. I've just never been so close to a vampire without all the 'grrr' and the biting."

Angel isn't exactly sure what to do with that, but he is thankfully saved by the slowly opening door behind him. Buffy knocks gently to announce her entrance.

"Hello," Henry calls, leaning to the side so he can see past Angel.

Buffy is taken aback to find one of the kids awake. "Oh, hi," she manages with a smile.

"Buffy, this is Henry," Angel introduces, motioning for her to join them. "Henry, this is Buffy."

"Your girlfriend," Henry supplies. "Henry McAlister. Nice to meet you."

Buffy looks to Angel, who shakes his head.

"Did Cordelia tell you about us?" Buffy questions.

"No," Angel answers for Henry. "He dreamed it."

"He…."

"Dreamed it," Henry nods.

"Okay… Angel, where's Cordy?"

"Taking a shower in Dawn's room," Angel answers. "I told her I'd look out for the kids."

"Do you guys have a shower I can use?" Henry says, sniffing his shirt. "And maybe some clothes?"

Buffy smiles kindly. "Sure. Angel, why don't you…"

"I promised I'd stay here," Angel interrupts. "I should stay with Bella. He should be okay in our room. Can you take him?"

Buffy wrinkles her brow. The unconscious one would really be better for her to handle, but she nods, offering her hand to Henry.

"It was nice to meet you, Angel," Henry calls over his shoulder.

* * *

TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Not At All

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Angel, Cordelia, the Scoobies

Pairings: Angel/Cordelia with residual Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Xander/Dawn, and mentions of Buffy/Spike

Summary: Ten years after "You're Welcome", Angel's new unlife with Buffy in Scotland is quite unexpectedly interrupted.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans Bella and Henry McAllister) aren't mine, but the situation is.

Author's Note: To those who are worried about only having five chapters, worry no longer. There's also a stand-alone sequel, and a multi-part threequel in the works, and perhaps stories in the alterna-verse alluded to in this story. Thanks for all the support!

* * *

**Chapter 3 (of 5)**

* * *

"Knock, knock," Xander announces, trying to force his voice to sound casual as he leans his head into Dawn's former room. "Cordy?"

Cordelia sticks her head out of the bathroom, hair wet from the shower. "One sec, Xand."

"Oh, right… Of course," Xander says, awkwardly, wiping his hands on his thighs as he takes a seat on the double bed in the middle of the room.

Her hair is long again, like he remembers from high school, and she looks only slightly older than she did then, too, whereas he is thirty-something and pudgy.

"Sorry," she apologizes warmly, emerging with a fluffy towel wrapped around her body. "My clothes are a little un-wearable," she shrugs.

"I think I have the cure for that," Xander smiles offering her a pile of clothes. "They're Angel's." She falters at that. "Buffy sent them. You're a bit taller and curvier than she is."

"Are you calling me fat?" she teases. Seeing Xander fumble, she decides to cut him some slack. "Just kidding, Xander. How'd you know I was here?"

"I bumped into Buffy and Henry on the way to her room."

"He's awake?" she asks, using her second towel to dry her hair.

"Yeah, and stinky, apparently. He asked for a shower."

Cordy smiles. "Sounds like him." She gestures to the bathroom. "I'm gonna change. Don't go anywhere."

Xander nods. As she slips back into the bathroom, Xander stands, noting the crumpled papers on the dresser. He knows it's prying, but he has so many questions. He picks up the first paper from amongst abused bills in several currencies, noticing it's actually a photo, worn and tattered. Turning it over, he reveals a very old snapshot of Angel and Cordelia, gazing down at the bundle of blankets and blue eyes Cordelia cradles in her arms. Xander has heard about the baby, Connor, but has never seen a picture, nor learned how close to being a family Angel and Cordy had come. Gently, Xander turns it back over, reaching for the second one. This one is even grimier and more wrinkled. He flips it over to find a pretty, blonde girl-next-door looking back at him, grinning over her shoulder at the photographer. He doesn't recognize her, nor can he place her from any of the scant stories of L.A. he's heard.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Harris?"

He should feel guilty for getting caught snooping, but instead he turns the picture to Cordelia.

"Who's this?"

He knows from the look on her face that she's clamming up. She plasters on her best fake smile and takes the photo from his hands, placing it back on the dresser with a reverent stroke.

"Julia."

Xander gives the 'I need more info' face.

"Julia McAlister. The twins' mom."

"Well, where is she…" Her eyes say everything. "Oh. O-oh…."

"I really don't wanna talk about it, Xander," she pleads, taking a seat.

"Subject dropped," Xander says, overly enthusiastic. "So… nice weather, huh?"

Cordy rolls her eyes. "You made better small talk in closets. "

Xander smiles nostalgically. "Only because I was trying to get into your pants."

"Mmmh. Not my pants you're in anymore."

Xander's pretty sure he blushes at that. "Cor… it's…"

"Relax, I understand. Pretty girl, not the baby she once was. You've always been close. Higher Being. I know these things."

Xander laughs.

"No, it's good. It's good that some of you could move on. You've all lost so many people. But now Willow has Kennedy. You have Dawn. Buffy and Angel have each other."

She says the last part nonchalantly and it startles him. He's not sure just what happened between the two, but from what he's gathered over the years, Angel and Cordelia were, at one point, in love.

"That doesn't bother you? Buffy and Angel hopping into bed together?"

"I hardly call ten years together just "hopping into bed". And no, why would you think it would bother me?"

"Because I saw the picture, Cordy," he says empathically.

She freezes, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath. She pulls her knees up and buries her face in them momentarily, still breathing deeply. She realizes too late that she's wearing Angel's clothes. That she's breathing him in. She struggles against the tears, because she's a Higher Being and stronger than this and goddammit she is not going to cry in front of Xander frickin' Harris.

"You and Angel in that picture… That's not something that just goes away because one of you is dead. Or in this case, both. You don't think that if Anya waltzed back into my life, that it wouldn't give me pause? Make things a little messy between Dawn and me? I mean, I asked that girl to marry me. I treated her like crap and wussed out, yes, because that's my specialty, but I wanted to spend my life with her. That doesn't change just because she's dead. All of us are fully aware of what our relationships are. For probably the first time, we all have fairly healthy, open relationships. But you, and Spike, and Tara, and Anya, you're all the elephants in the room, no matter what. Do you think a day goes by when one of us doesn't wonder 'what if?' On both sides of the bed. Cordy… That picture… You and Angel and Connor…"

"Don't talk about Connor," she snaps, raising her head, eyes burning.

Xander wrinkles his brow, rant delayed. "Why can't I talk about…"

She cuts him off with a glare. "Because I'd rather not have my greatest failure paraded around in front of my face."

"Cordy, you didn't fail… the name I'm not going to say because you now have super powers and could probably kill me with your pinky nail…" he rushes.

"No?" Cordy gets up, begins to compulsively straighten her meager belongings, shuffling and reshuffling the bills, handling the pictures with care. "I was off in Mexico com-shuking the Groosalugg when that sweet little baby was taken into a hell dimension to be raised by a crazy, vindictive vampire hunter, who taught him to hate his father and took every ounce of sweetness he ever had. And then I let myself get tricked into being demonized so that some crazy god could take over my body, deflower poor little Connor, and drive him absolutely friggin' nuts! "

"Alright, I'm going to skip over the com-whatevering with the Groo-thing, 'cause I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds dirty. And then, I'm gonna just forget I heard about the deflowering of Angel's son, because that's just disturbing mental imagery. I'm gonna skip right to the part where _absolutely none of that is your fault_. 'Cause the shukking sounds like something we can blame on Mr. 'Gesundheit', and that latter part is totally the god's fault. And believe me, I know what bitches gods can be…. So, back to you and Angel."

"I'm dead, Xander. Gone from his world. And I can't come back. Once Bella heals, I'm as good as dead again…"

"You and I both know it's not that simple. He's not going to just let you walk out that door and never see you again, not when he knows you're in this dimension. He's going to look for you until he either finds you, or is dust."

"I've done a pretty great job hiding from the entire underworld for a decade. What's one more vampire?"

"The whole underworld isn't in love with you. I mean, not last time I checked…"

"Xander… Drop it."

Xander sighs. "Dropped." She is just going to have to deal with this herself.

"Thank you."

"So, Giles actually sent me for you. Wanted you to know that we'll be meeting in about an hour. I think he's gonna make you explain yourself, young lady."

"As best I can," Cordy smiles sadly.

* * *

"Oh, cool. Do it again."

Cordy hears Henry before she sees him, his voice drifting down the hallway from an open room. He must've dreamed this place, because he's rarely so very comfortable. She peeks her head in the door, seeing him perched on Kennedy's lap as they watch Willow levitate a few items about the room. Parlor tricks for the powerful Wicca, of course, but they hold Henry enraptured. Maybe it isn't a dream vision that leaves him so comfortable, but those residual feelings from alternate realities.

He's fresh from the shower, wet hair sticking up at all angles, pale skin flushed. He's wearing an oversized Sunnydale High t-shirt that seems to be Buffy's, and a pair of cotton pants cinched tight at the waist and rolled several times.

"Hi, Henry," she calls to him, warmly. "Having fun?"

"Oh, hi, Cordy," he greets her with a little wave, barely breaking his attention away from Willow.

"You okay here while I go check on your sister?"

"Sure," he says absently, "Angel's with her. She's still sleeping."

"Okay. Bye, Henry."

"'Bye. Hey, Willow, could you lift me?"

"Sure," Willow smiles, obviously enjoying the attention. She gives a soft smile to Cordelia before levitating the ten-year-old into the air.

"Oh, so cool. Cordy can do this to herself, but not anyone else."

Freed briefly from the weight in her lap, Kennedy lifts herself off the ground and comes over to Cordelia.

"I can watch him while you meet with the others," she offers, trying to seem nonchalant. "I mean, if you're okay with that."

"That's fine with me. What safer place than with a Slayer? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sure," she says, then continues louder for Henry's benefit. "Hank and I'll find something fun to do. Some rabble to rouse."

Her answer is a giggle from Henry as Willow spins him about the room.

"Well, if you're okay with him, I'm going to go check on Bella."

Kennedy nods, retreating back into the room and plucking Henry out of the air, throwing him onto the bed. His laughter only increases. With Kennedy now occupying Henry, Willow slips out of the room after Cordelia.

"Hey," she says, gently. "Want some company on the walk?"

"I've had more company in the last eight hours than I've had in the past decade, but yeah, sure."

"How's Bella doing?" Willow asks.

"Physically healed. Psychically a little iffy," Cordy tries to smile. "Becky says she'll be okay if, _when_, she wakes up. Angel's with her."

"Henry told me. He kept going on about how vampires are actually cold, throwing in a lot of 'duh'. Can't imagine where he got that from."

Cordy smiles sheepishly. "Yeah, funny thing about kids. They soak up everything you say. I'm just surprised their every third word isn't a curse."

Willow grins as they push their way into the infirmary. Cordy sees Angel hunched over Bella's bedside and is lost in memories of the other Bella perched grinning on the other Angel's back. She shakes them off, approaching Angel from behind and laying a hand on his shoulder. The contact, even through his shirt, sends a shock through both of them.

"Any change?" Cordy asks, quickly removing her hand.

"I sent Henry…"

"Yeah, I know," she interrupts warmly. "I ran into him on my way here. Kennedy's keeping an eye on him."

"Good. Good." After that, Angel seems to have little left to say, lost in Cordy's eyes.

"Um, guys?" Willow interrupts, hesitantly but warmly. "I think you have company."

Cordy breaks the contact, turning to Willow with an apology when the soft moan from beside her whips her attention back around.

"Cor?" Bella groans weakly, eyes squinting in objection to the light.

"Hey, there, Bella-bear," Cordy says gently, trying to keep the tears of relief from her eyes. She takes the girl's small hand as she turns down the light and sits in the chair Angel vacates. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good," Bella moans, shifting uncomfortably. "But better, I think. Where are we?"

"Scotland. With friends of mine." Her eyes drift to Angel as she says this before focusing on Bella again. "With the other Slayers. The older ones."

Bella's brow furrows, looking around the room. "Henry?"

"Safe," Cordy assures her, running her fingers through Bella's blond hair. "Playing with the Slayers."

Bella nods knowingly and then looks past her Cordy. "Who are they?"

"Old friends."

The girl's blue gaze levels on Angel. "He's a vampire."

"He is," Cordelia confirms, squeezing Bella's hand. "But he's good. I promise."

"I'm Angel," the vampire offers, waving awkwardly at the girl.

"He's kinda dorky for being a master," Bella notes, earning soft laughs from Cordelia and Willow, and a surprisingly warm grin from Angel.

"I've been told as much. How did you know I was a master?"

Bella shrugs.

"It's a Slayer-thing," Willow adds. "I'm Willow, by the way. I've known your – Cordy, since pre-school."

"Nice to meet you," Bella nods.

A knock at the door alerts them of Dawn's arrival. "Giles wants you guys now."

"You're leaving?" Bella questions, voice growing tight, eyes wide.

"Shh," Cordy soothes, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Just for a few minutes, Bel'. I'll send Henry and his new friend Kennedy in to keep you company, okay?"

"Promise?" Bella asks.

"Of course. When have I ever let you down?"

Bella only nods in response, squeezing Cordy's hand before she lets go.

* * *

"The question remains, Cordelia," Giles clears his throat after the teenage queen bee- turned-higher power's story. "Why you? Why not send the children to where they could be raised and protected by fellow Slayers?"

Her previous explanation excluded alternate realities and the like, instead focusing on the facts in this world. To that end, she just passes a quick glance at Angel and answers: "Too obvious. Looking for a Slayer in halves? Look no further than Slayer Central. The twins need to be on the move until they are old enough to fight back effectively."

"I take it you're not staying, then," Xander adds.

"Once Bella can travel safely again, we're gone," Cordy reiterates.

"You'll never be able to travel safely, any of you. You said yourself that they're catching up," Angel says harshly, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning against.

"We keep running," Cordy holds her ground, locked in a staring contest with Angel. Her voice gets a little softer as she continues, "It's all we know how to do."

Angel makes a face. "I hate this. There has to be a way I, we can help."

Cordelia says seriously, "Forget we were ever here."

Angel's eyes, rimmed in yellow, narrow at her. "Cordelia, that is not an option."

"No, it's the only option."

Angel growls and vamps out, surprising the rest of the inner circle but earning only a bored look from Cordelia.

"Angel…." Buffy says hesitantly, laying a hand on his arm. Angel's fangs recede as Cordy turns her attention to Giles.

"All I ask is sanctuary until Bella can move again. A day, at the most. Then we'll be gone."

"Granted," Giles says kindly, eyes softening as he sees the resolve in Cordelia's stance. "But I refuse to give up without researching any way we may aide you. Andrew and I will get started researching this Slayer-in-halves prophecy. Willow, would you and your witches please look into any spells that may mask Cordelia and the twins from detection?"

Meeting Angel's eyes, Cordelia says, "No tattoos, please."

Angel grimaces; no one else gets it.

"I'll get started, Giles," Willow says, quickly.

Cordelia smiles kindly at her. Everyone else clears out, leaving Cordy and Angel alone.

"I should get back to Bella," Cordy says softly, tearing her eyes away from Angel's.

"I want to go with you," Angel says resolutely.

Cordy puts on her best smile and purposely misunderstands him.

"I'm sure she'd love the company."

"Cordelia," Angel growls, taking her arm forcefully but not roughly, pulling her around to face him. "You know what I meant. I want to go with you, when you leave."

"Angel…"

"Cordy, please let me come," he nearly-whispers, all soulful brown eyes.

"Angel…" her voice breaks. "Please don't ask again. I won't be able to say no."

Angel takes a deep, unnecessary breath and brushes his fingers tentatively across her cheek, eyes closing at the sensation. "Cordelia, please. Let me c – "

She presses her lips to his, not letting him finish the question that will ruin her.

"That wasn't a yes," she says, breathless, as they finally part.

Resting his forehead on hers, he allows himself the faintest hint of a smile. "It wasn't a no."

"They'll be hungry," Cordy whispers, pulling away. "The twins… They're always hungry."

Angel smiles stupidly. "We'll get them some food."

* * *

TBC 


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Not At All

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Angel, Cordelia, the Scoobies

Pairings: Angel/Cordelia with residual Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Xander/Dawn, and mentions of Buffy/Spike

Summary: Ten years after "You're Welcome", Angel's new unlife with Buffy in Scotland is quite unexpectedly interrupted.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans Bella and Henry McAlister) aren't mine, but the situation is.

Author's Note: These last two chapters are short, I know, but there is more to come, so I don't feel so bad. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4 (of 5)

* * *

"Did you bring us food?" Henry questions as soon as Angel and Cordelia enter the room. He hops out of Kennedy's lap and abandons the card game spread out on his twin's bed.

"Are you starving them, Kennedy?" Angel asks, smile brought on by the laugh Cordy graces Henry with as he bounces toward her.

Taken aback by the normally broody vampire's warmth, Kennedy searches for a response.

"No, we were waiting for you, Cordy," Bella informs them, slinged arm resting lightly on her stomach.

"Good thing we brought dinner, then, huh?"

"Oh, is that spaghetti?"

"Henry, take a breath," Bella chastises.

"Here, monster," Cordy teases, handing off the plates. "Let me check out your sister."

Henry settles into a chair and digs into his dinner.

"Becky stopped by earlier," Kennedy offers. "She said the cast should come off tomorrow morning."

Cordy nods, tipping up the blonde girl's chin, studying the healing scar, blood no longer soaking through the bandage.

"How's it feel, Bella-bear?"

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yes. It only hurts a little."

Cordy looks skeptical, but merely offers the girl her dinner. "Eat up, little one."

"So, Angel," Henry says, mouth full of pasta. "Any fun stories about our Cordy?"

"You two behave," Cordy warns, shooting a playful look first at Henry, then at Angel.

Kennedy bids the twins goodbye and takes her leave of the grinning group.

Halfway through their meal, Henry launches into a story about a concierge in Prague and how much Cordy annoyed him.

"Thankfully, two adorable blond children gets you out of about everything in the world," Cordy quips.

"Yeah. He let us get our stuff before he threw us out," Henry grins.

"That was the nicest place we'd stayed in months," Bella complains, eliciting a giggle from Henry as she slurps her spaghetti.

"Where do you usually stay?" Angel asks, kindly, not catching Cordy's uncomfortable look.

"Where ever's dry and not near vampires," Henry shrugs.

Bella laughs. "Remember that place in Istanbul? For a Higher Being, Cordy's _really_ afraid of bugs."

"Behave!" Cordy objects, the twins sharing a conspiratorial look.

* * *

Hours, blissful hours, later, Henry, having earlier plopped into Angel's lap, falls asleep rambling about Caracas with marinara smeared on his face. Cordy and Bella share the infirmary bed, eventually drifting off to sleep themselves. Surrounded by the slow, steady heartbeats, the echoes of earlier laughter, and the warmth of the boy's body snuggled against his cold chest, sleep soon claims the vampire against his will.

"Well, 'ello there, big guy."

Eyes blinking against the blindingly white light, Angel spots a long lost friend, complete with brogue and bright blue eyes, playing cards on a pair of fold out chairs and a card table with young Henry McAlister.

"Hank, m'boy. How 'bout you run along? Nothin' special tonight."

Henry's eyes slip over to Angel briefly, then he smacks hands with his adult companion and disappears from view with a "Later, Doyle."

"This's never happened before," Doyle says amiably, offering Angel the chair Henry has just vacated. "I'd offer you a drink, but this is a ten-year-old's dreamscape. And, scary as my boy Henry's dreams may be, no alcohol."

"Dreamscape?" Is all Angel catches.

"Lil' Bella calls our boy a dream walker. A higher affinity for the dream plane, you might say. I'm his guide. Known the little buddy all his life."

"You live in Henry's head?"

"His dreams, Boss. Not his head. Can't touch 'im when he's awake. Try to give 'im as much of a male influence as I can, but I'm not enough."

"Where's his dad?"

"Ah, Oliver Hampton. A creep, not father material. Julia never even told him she was pregnant. Says even back then she knew they were too special to let him get his hands on. Don't all mothers know? I think they can feel it, their babe's destinies. Anyway, Julia loved those babes like no other. Right cute wee ones, too. No wonder the Princess fell in love. The terrible twos I could've done without…"

"Doyle," Angel interrupts. "Why am I here?"

"Don't rightly know," Doyle admits. "Must be about the kids. But I'm glad you're here, so I can give you the talking-to I've been wanting to give you since they set foot in this castle."

Angel sighs and sits back in his chair.

"What's that, Doyle?"

"Look, the Princess, she's been through hell. The visions, the possession, the dying, all that you know. But it's no picnic now. Having lost you, it was hard for her to open up, but life on the run and carin' for the babes bred a bond between Julia and Cordelia. I don't think she'll ever get over the twins' mum dyin' like that, will always think she should've gone. Silly, o' course. Illogical. But our Princess…"

"Why are you telling me this, Doyle?"

"Because I'm impotent! Lil' Bella almost got her throat ripped out and I can't even reach out and hug the Princess, let alone help defend these kids. They need someone, a father figure, a helping hand. They're all each other has in this world. And this world wants to destroy them."

"What am I supposed to do, Doyle? She doesn't want me to come along."

Doyle laughs affectionately.

"I've missed you, big guy. Don't be dense. She _wants_ you. She's just been stuck playing martyr so long she won't let herself want you." He tips back in his chair. "You better start taking care of my family. I'm giving them to… Ah, hell!!"

Doyle's on his feet, pacing.

"Henry!" Doyle starts calling. "Hank, buddy, get your cute little arse back here."

Breathless, Henry skids in from nowhere.

"Big stuff, little man. Trouble coming; time to rally the troops."

"Trouble? We're safe here," Angel objects.

Henry, eyes filling with fear as scenes from the coming battle start swirling around them, as the stench of blood and rot and mud rises, turns on Angel in a flash, young voice strangely harsh.

"We're _never_ safe."

* * *

With a jolt, Angel is awake, Henry already on his feet waking Bella and Cordelia.

"What is it, Henry?' Cordelia questions, instantly awake.

"Trouble coming," the boy answers, closing his eyes. "The undead. Vampires, zombies. Surrounding the castle."

"When?"

"Any minute now."

Cordy's face grows pale. "Go get Kennedy and Becky, Henry, now. Run."

The boy takes off on her orders. The Higher Being turns to her remaining charge. "I'm going to go check on the situation. You sit tight, alright, Bella-bear? Everything's going to be…"

"Fine?" Bella finishes for her.

"Brat," Cordy says affectionately before turning her attention to Angel seriously. "What's the best way out of here? A secret way."

"I know one."

"Good. Stay here with Bella. I'll be right back."

"What?"

"Stay here with Bella. Don't let anything happen to her."

Before Angel can object, she's out the door.

"_You better start taking care of my family."_

* * *

_ TBC_


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Not At All

Rating: PG-13

Characters: Angel, Cordelia, the Scoobies

Pairings: Angel/Cordelia with residual Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Xander/Dawn, and mentions of Buffy/Spike

Summary: Ten years after "You're Welcome", Angel's new unlife with Buffy in Scotland is quite unexpectedly interrupted.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans Bella and Henry McAlister) aren't mine, but the situation is.

Author's Note: Sorry to keep you waiting. Here's the last chapter. But never fear, a one-shot sequel is on the way, and a multi-part threequel is in the works, but no promises. Thanks for all the great response!

* * *

Part 5 (of 5) 

There's a battle raging outside. He can feel the bustle in the castle, the rush of the Slayers running to defend the outer walls. And strangely, he's not drawn to it. He feels perfectly content to take up guard of the Slayer child, to hold the hand she offers as she looks nervously to the door, waiting for her family to return.

When Becky rushes through the door, Kennedy, Willow, and Henry in tow, Angel finds himself unconsciously slipping into his new role with ease.

"Can she be moved?" he asks calmly, feeling Bella squeeze his hand.

Becky pauses for a second, considering the question. "She'll need to stay in the sling. And if she's moving, I'd like the cast on for another twenty-four hours."

"Done. Get her ready to go. Anything you need to do. We leave as soon as Cordy gets back."

As the others gape at the pronoun usage, he feels Henry's hand slip into his free one, meeting the boy's beautiful blue eyes for a powerful moment. The trust there brings a smile to Angel's face despite the circumstances.

"I'm sorry," Willow interjects. "We?"

"He's coming with us," Henry says authoritatively. "Doyle said you would."

Angel squeezes Henry's hand reassuringly and then releases it. "I've got some stuff to take care of. Look out for your sister?"

Henry nods.

"Hey there, Bella," Angel smiles, smoothing blonde hair out of the girl's eyes. "Henry and Kennedy are going to keep you company while Becky gets you ready to go. I'll be right back." He drops his voice, meeting her gaze. "Don't let your mom leave without me."

She smiles brightly. "Don't be late, Angel. And don't forget my clothes."

With a final nod, Henry takes Angel's place at Bella's side and the ensouled vampire exits the room, grabbing Willow with him.

"Angel, are you sure?" Willow asks.

"More sure than I've been in a very long time. What did you come up with on protection spells?"

"Well, Cordy said no tattoos, so talismans should do the trick. I can make them strong enough that it should buy them a few months of anonymity. Enough for them to get lost again."

"Us," Angel corrects. "For us to get lost again. Can you make four?"

Willow meets Angel's determined eyes and nods. "Sure. It'll only take me a few minutes."

"Good. I'll meet you in the infirmary. Thanks."

"Angel!" Willow calls to his retreating back.

The vampire turns at the sound of his name.

"Say goodbye to Buffy. Please."

Angel nods. "Of course."

* * *

"Angel! Where have you been? Willow told me you wanted to see me. Better make it quick; there's an assload of vamps out there trying to get in. Though, Cordy just took out a dozen of them by glowing. Did you know she could do that…" 

Buffy trails off as she realizes Angel is quickly packing a few necessities and has a portable cooler sitting on their bed next to a duffel bag. She doesn't need to see Bella and Henry's newly cleaned clothes folded neatly in the bag to know what's happening.

"Sorta," Angel lamely answers her last question. "Buffy, I…"

"Did you pack enough blood?" she asks quickly, popping open the cooler and counting the packets of blood interspersed with the lunchmeats and canned goods and fresh fruit. "You don't know when you'll be able to…"

"Buffy…" Angel repeats, grabbing her hand. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," Buffy says with a sad smile and watery eyes, turning her face to his. She kisses his cheek and pulls away. "I'd do the same."

Angel nods, kissing her lips chastely. "One last favor?"

"Anything."

"Get word to Connor? Let him know I'm alive… well, undead, and that I'll be unavailable for a while, but I'll come to see him when I can."

"He'll know."

"Thank you. For everything."

With a final, sad smile, Angel's gone.

* * *

In the hall outside Bella's room, navigating the chaos of a fortress at battle, Cordy and Angel collide. 

"You…" Cordy starts, steadying herself on his arms, narrowly avoiding a sprinting Slayer. Angel backs her against the wall, kissing her quickly, insistently. As they break apart, she finishes, a little confused: "Packed?"

"I'm coming. No asking this time. You need me. You want me. Doyle said."

"_Doyle_ said? Angel, what? Where?"

"In Henry's dreams."

"How the hell did you get into Henry's dreams?"

"Don't really know, but I was there. I'm coming."

"Angel, no…"

The vampire grins dorkily, holding up duffel and cooler. "I already packed your clothes. And food. You have to let me come."

"Angel…"

"No, no fighting me on this. I can help you protect them, raise them. You shouldn't have to do it alone. And beyond all that, I love you and you're not walking out without me again."

"Are you done ranting, Broody Boy?" Cordy questions, the edges of her lips perking up into a smile.

Angel lets out an unneeded breath. "Yes, I think I am."

"Good, because what I was going to say is, if you insist on coming along, you better get your dead ass in gear."

They grin stupidly at each other for a few seconds, and then a rush of traffic in the hallway jostles them out of their reverie.

"I've got Becky working on getting Bella ready to go. She wants the cast on for another day and it'll be in the sling. I'll carry her. Oh, and Willow will be dropping off some protection spell talismans she says should buy us a few months."

"Wow, you've really thought this out."

"Not at all."

* * *

After the fighting is over, the inner circle gathers to debrief. As Andrew finds a seat, Giles clears his throat. 

"Good, everyone's here."

"We're still missing Dead Boy," an exhausted Xander contradicts.

"Angel's gone," Buffy says simply, acceptance in her voice.

"Whoa! Dead Boy's dust and this is the first I hear of it?" Xander sits up straighter, upset.

"No, Xander. Angel left with Cordelia and the twins," Giles clarifies. "They appear to have sneaked out during the battle. We can only assume they got away."

"They did," Kennedy pipes up. "I don't know how, but I can feel it. They're safe for now."

"I gave them some protection spells that should give them some time to hide again," Willow adds.

"Good. Very good. We should keep an ear out for their whereabouts. Andrew's and my research into this prophecy proved quite interesting."

"Meaning?" Buffy asks.

"If the twins should survive into adolescence, the world will be a drastically different place."

* * *

The cold rain is pelting his face, and the blonde girl in his arms shivers to try to fight off the damp freeze, but Angel has never felt more alive, more free in his unlife. Cordelia and Henry are getting them passage to the States on a nearby docked ship, one where Angel can spend the days hiding from the sun. Bella, whose arm has miraculously survived the truck ride to the port with no further damage, has her face tucked into his duster seeking shelter from the rain, but otherwise seems content. 

Henry comes running, slipping and sliding through the puddles, across the street.

"We're booked," he says breathlessly, offering his small hand to Angel with inherent ease. "You ready?"

Angel nods, then notes Cordelia making her way across the street, mindful of the puddles. Having long given up on trying to stay dry, she's soaked to the bone, hair plastered to her face, raindrops dripping from her nose. But she's giving him that smile, that Cordy smile, and everything is right in the world. He has missed that smile more than he ever realized. She continues to smile and Bella's small, strong heart beats above where Angel's should be, Henry's small, cold fingers are linked with his, and he no longer cares what is chasing them, that he's signed himself on for a life of fighting and running and hiding. This is where he's supposed to be.

* * *

el fin 


End file.
